“Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized Tuesday for her use of a private email account after declining since last week to express remorse for the State Department arrangement that has shaken her presidential campaign,” reports the Associated Press.

Asked about setting up the private email account by ABC News, Clinton said: “That was a mistake. I’m sorry about that. I take responsibility, and I’m trying to be as transparent as I possibly can.”

The Democratic presidential candidate declined to apologize for using a private email system when asked directly by NBC News on Friday, saying she was “sorry that this has been confusing to people.” In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, she said an apology wasn’t necessary because what she did was “allowed” by the State Department.

Today’s Question: What do you think of Clinton’s apology for using a private email server?

Related Questions

I thought from the first day that I heard about this that it called into question her professional judgement. I have worked in IT for more than 20 years and have managed several email servers and have never found an instance where it is adequately secure and reliable for a very small group to manage their own email server.The fact that Clinton used such a server in the conduct of American Diplomacy and National Security is appalling and has shaken my support for her presidential campaign which is rife with other problems.

maskddingo

Agree. Also in IT here. I was appalled too.

You know damn right if you work in IT that someone in Russian and China hit your server up daily if it’s public (even if it doesn’t belong to the Secretary of State). To hear that this thing had a webmail portal? I’m sure you understand how extra-absurd that is… especially when we have top-secret info flying through the thing.

Very, very, -very- dangerous when your communications include meeting times and places for foreign dignitaries, let long sources and methods of intelligence…

We are talking about plain-text email over the net for a good portion of her time in office. For the unknowing, that means a teenager with minimal experience could literally intercept it and view the entire thing with almost no effort.

Completely disqualifies her in my mind. She was either grossly incompetent, or had an nefarious motive.

She will be lucky to avoid jail.

KTN

Seems alright since there was no crime committed, except the one made up by Faux news and its followers.

I completely understand why Hillary Clinton kept a private email server. For about 20 years people have been nosing around her private life looking for scandals and spinning conspiracy theories, and even though nothing has stuck in all that time, they’ve kept at it. If I knew that armies of opposition researchers were looking to dig up dirt on me, I’d want to keep control of my information, too. They’ve given her every reason to do that, and now they complain that she did. Grow up, people.

Gary F

And if a Republican did that for the same reason, it would still be OK?

Sue de Nim

“If”? Perhaps. But I have yet to see a Republican treated that way. There’s no need. People find their policies abhorrent enough, and the taint they bear from plutocratic campaign “donors” obvious enough, that digging up scandals in their private lives would be redundant.

Gary F

You mean big donors like who give to the Clinton foundation?

Sue de Nim

No, I mean big donors to PACs, which the Clinton Foundation is not. Look if Hillary weren’t such a highly qualified candidate, her opponents could defeat her with legitimate tactics, instead of twisting facts and assuming nefarious motives for everything she does.

Gary F

So what are here accomplishments as SOS?

maskddingo

She compromised national security?

In fairness, I don’t think she was trying to accomplish this on purpose. Just was incompetent about it.

Yanotha Twangai

Indeed. You can tell a lot about a person’s character by the kind of enemies they make. The folks who most hate Hillary are the ones whose policy prescriptions I would most hate to see implemented.

maskddingo

I’m a liberal. Ask me my positions.

Hillary does not deserve my support. I hope you see the light.

Yanotha Twangai

Why do you think I care about “liberal credentials”? Conservatives think I’m liberal because I often express my disagreement with extreme right-wingers. I’ve been supporting Hillary because she’s more of a centrist than any of the other Democratic candidates (and of course, the GOP has gone off the deep end on the “right,” so none of them get my vote). If she winds up flaming out over this, I suppose I’ll hold my nose and vote for whoever else the Dems nominate, but until allegations of wrongdoing are proved, she won’t be losing my support.

Robert

You do know that Mrs. Clinton has PACS as well such as Priorities USA Action.

maskddingo

PACs (of which she has many)? I thought she was for campaign finance reform?

Oh I get it!

These rules don’t apply to her…

whitedoggie44

you must be a politician as you sure avoided the question-

maskddingo

Are you kidding? Short memory. I remember this because I was very much for it. Scooter Libby.

He outed -one- source. He got exactly what he deserved.

Comparatively, Hillary has done untold damage.

To morph a “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” quote as a metaphor: She stole fizzy lifting drinks. She’s been near the ceiling which now has to be washed and sterilized. She loses. She gets nothing. Good day!

maskddingo

You might understand why… However, the job she held as a public servant did not afford her that ability. If she wasn’t up to fulfilling her appointed duties, she shouldn’t have taken the job.

Sue de Nim

“Other liberals”? I don’t choose my opinions based on what label I want people to hang on me. If I’m not “liberal” enough for you, that’s your problem. I reject both the far left and the far right. This polarization and political side-taking is bad for America.

Starr Brantingham

ok, why is it such a big deal at all?

Gary F

Ask the ever growing people with Bernie Sanders signs in their front yards.

maskddingo

Because she faces permanent the loss of her security clearance. Imagine a POTUS without security clearance. She also is likely to soon face criminal charges on many fronts related to this. Don’t think for a second Obama will step in to stop it. The FBI is already all over it, he could have called them off.

Oh yeah… and this all proves once and for all that she is a dirty rotten liar.

Khatti

It would be one thing if she did something like this in 1993 when she just got to town, but she’s been in and around government for twenty years now, how did she become so casual about crossing the Ts and dotting the Is?

maskddingo

Motive. What’s in the emails she deleted? She said she only deleted personal stuff, yet we’ve seen personal stuff in the items she didn’t delete. Thankfully, the FBI is good at recovering deleted data. to that point, if their aren’t backups at the place that was maintaining the server, that’s even more suspicious…

On top of transmitting top secret information on an unsecured server where people without security clearance regularly had access to the data, she also destroyed public records when she wiped that server. She is not the one that has discretion over the email server she used to conduct business as the Secretary of State. Red flags everywhere!

Pearly

A vast right wing conspiracy!

Sue de Nim

No, not a conspiracy. That would imply they were being secretive about it. The folks who are trying to sabotage Hillary’s chances are doing so quite openly and even seem to be proud of it. Call it rather a “vast right wing concerted effort.” They wouldn’t have to do that if they didn’t feel threatened by her.

Robert

This was a self inflicted wound…..she should know better from being in government for 30+ years.

Pearly

Her apology is equal to an administration of guilt

Yanotha Twangai

The fact that people like you think so is the main reason apologies are so rare and take so long to come out when they do.

Pearly

don’t attack me

Yanotha Twangai

If you think that’s an “attack,” well, that says something about you.

Pearly

I can’t argue with that. Solid

Pearly

If she’s not guilty what’s the apology for? Wiping the server with a cloth?

kevins

What are the charges?

Pearly

I asked first what’s the apology for…..

kevins

Well then, that clears it up..thanks!

John Dilligaf

Not everybody’s in on it, so maybe you can call it half-vast…..
……
……
OK, now you have to look at it phonetically.
……
……
Say it out loud. HALFVAST
……
When you have to explain it, it’s just not funny.
Never mind.

Yanotha Twangai

Old joke.

John Dilligaf

Got me there. You’re on fire today.

PaulJ

A no motive IT error? Shirley you jest with this Hillarity; it makes us look like we’ve nothing else negative to say about her.

maskddingo

Either their was motive or -gross- incompetence.

PaulJ

If she didn’t sent top secret and copies were kept of the other emails, it appears to me that she expedited a process while adhering to the letter of the law. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some minor mistakes (none rising to character flaw level), but there are some major problems in the world and this ain’t one of them.

Robert

The only reason for the apology is her handlers finally convinced her of the damage to her campaign she was doing by not apologizing. The whole private server issue was just a huge self inflicted wound by a person who should have known that it would come up in a presidential campaign. Did she pass classified information…..maybe, maybe not; but having the server conveniently wiped before giving it to the FBI sure doesn’t pass the sniff test. The bigger issue for me is how secure was this server? With the IT guy who set it up exercising his 5th amendment rights it again make things look bad for Mrs. Clinton.

HunterIn MN

Hillary stated regarding a personal email server- unsecured, on CNN interview he other day, ” I just wasn’t thinking at the time.”
That’s my kind of President to be! An old lady who just wasn’t thinking. I am waiting for the Chinese gov’t. to leverage their needs with threatening to release some of those classified and 2 top secret documents from her personal sever.
When I had a Secret Clearance, had I used any private e-mail to discuss anything related to spy photos or details on a Bosnia No fly zones, I would be writing from a Federal prison. She was a top official and she has been caught lying on this security issue, count them_ 7 times in the past 4 months.
We now know that Huma Abedein, one of Clinton’s most trusted aides, also had an email account on Secretary Clinton’s home server. Email between their two accounts would be archived at the State Department only if a third email account at a
state.gov address was part of the conversation.

Her claim that her adherence to the rules was “undisputed”; her claim that “there is no classified material”; her assertion of “unprecedented” transparency; and her claim that all she did in disposing of “personal” emails is just what any other State
Department employee could do — all are now 100% disputed and that is why the FBI is doing a criminal investigation. The FBI hasn’t changed their duties in the past 30 years so I can say without reservation, if the FBI invesitigates, then it is_ a Criminal investigation. However, I doubt the new liberal Attorney General will do anything until Congress demands she do her job as her office oath so dictates.

Pearly

I remember the last Clinton public apology, that was a real classic!

maskddingo

That depends on the definition of the word ‘was’…

HunterIn MN

It is obvious from how the day’s question is posed, that the discussion is being slanted to take a pulse on the community view of Hillary’s public image vs. the real Question posed by the FBI_ did she commit by negligence, serious violations of her office and national security? Of course and that is why she has lied so many times to the media and has avoided Congressional hearings. By December we will likely have Sanders as the only DNC choice…wow_
So, the next Question MPR should be asking is ” What the hell is the difference between a Socialist-Marxist Sanders and a Democrat, since the DNC endorses Sanders as a Democrat.” Ouch! The DNC actually allows a Socialist to run under their name??? Kennedy must be turning over in his grave. I can almost hear the Progressives chanting, “We Miss our murdering Che Guevara who put Castro in power.” come this October 8th anniversary of his execution. BTW_ Hillary pushed to open trade with Cuba since 2009 all the while Cuba was sending arms to North Korea.

Yanotha Twangai

“The DNC actually allows a Socialist to run under their name???” And what would you think of a party that insists all of its candidates march in lockstep with the approved ideology and not think for themselves? Oh, right, that’s the GOP these days. I’m glad the DNC is open-minded like that. I’d be disappointed if Sanders gets the nomination, but the fact that he’s allowed to make his case is a good thing. Isn’t freedom of choice what America is all about?

HunterInMN

Based on your theory that the DNC loves having anyone from any affiliation or ideology run under their banner of democrat ( barring a Republican of course) then even a KKK fascist would be welcomed by the DNC or perhaps even someone from the American Communist Party? It is not about freedom of Choice/ It is about what the DNC considers representing their Democrat-Progressive views.
BTW_ how can Hillary speak about fixing the country when she has endorsed every Obama policy that has left our country with the worst recovery since the great depression? That 1 of 5 are unemployed is somehow not the responsibility of the Progressive party in office?

Yanotha Twangai

I wouldn’t say a “KKK fascist” would be “welcomed” (any more than Trump was welcomed by the GOP establishment) but sure, let them run. They won’t get anywhere. And anyway, since all the racists fled the Democratic Party for the GOP after Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, such a candidate would be more likely to run as a Republican these days, don’t you think?

Gary F

Why did they postpone the Democratic debate? Can’t The Queen stick up for herself or where the old white guys going to show her up? Why is the media protecting her so much?

Feel the Bern. More and more Bernie signs going up in my St Paul neighborhood.

boygeezer

There aren’t a lot of examples of politicians owning up to their mistakes, large or small, and Hillary is just the latest in this august group. And the arc tends to be the same: Denial that any mistake was made, one or more apologies that aren’t really apologies, and then — maybe — an actual apology. But when the actual apology is only made because the politician has backed themselves into a corner, it rings very hollow.

maskddingo

She’s got a lot more trouble coming than trying to save face with the electorate.

Martha

I asked Hillary Clinton campaign office why she supports the Iran deal while we, the American public are NOT allowed to read the whole Iran agreement! No apology can undo her screw ups and lies. Doesn’t MPR want to read this horrible deal with their own eyes vs. reporting on orchestrated sound bites from the White House??????
Did Hillary apologize for her work with Obama to withdraw troops with the result of hundreds of thousands murdered and the largest mass exodus of refugees since WWII? Nope. Did she apologize for arranging secret deals with countries that then donate millions to Bill for useless speeches to fill their Foundation coffers? Nope.The pay to play is the Clinton way.

David P.

What in the world are you talking about?

a_tribe_called_chris

??? Iran Deal or nothing. The sanctions are going away regardless. This deal is at least something to hold them to.

Thomas Lenzmeier

Blah, blah, blah

Jerry

I think this is not worth our collective attention.

Khatti

Wow! Fifty six comments, many of them argumentative. I have never confused this woman in my mind with Catherine MacKinnon, how has she managed to create this much controversy all of these years?

a_tribe_called_chris

I think this is the most idiotic, lamest, non-scandal the right wing lunatics have dreamed up yet. Who cares??? It is her e-mail folks. This and the “Benghazi” scandal are the biggest time wasters I have seen in quite a while.

whitedoggie44

Agreee-I am not even a democrat and I can’t believe the time wasted on this trivial issue.

GOOGLE=HOURLY=JOBs/$98/h PAY

$98/HOURLY SPECIAL REPORT!!!!……….After earning an average of 19952 Dollars monthly,I’m finally getting 98 Dollars an hour,just working 4-5 hours daily online… three to five hours of work daily… Weekly paycheck… Bonus opportunities…Payscale of $6k to $9k /a month… Just few hours of your free time, any kind of computer, elementary understanding of web and stable connection is what is required…….HERE I STARTED-TAKE A LOOK AT…….vtm….

Yes sir, tell that to the FBI doing a criminal investigation of Hillary’s ” i just wasn’t thinking” action to violate security rules with an unsecured personal email server..woowweee….can you say, incompetence or is it just the same old Clinton adage of ‘ we don’t have to abide by the rules.’ Hypocrits at the least.

Yanotha Twangai

She was using that private server for as long as she was Secretary of State. It was no secret then, and nobody objected to it, until the GOP’s talking heads figured they could raise a stink and spin it into a conspiracy theory. There’s a big difference between the FBI investigating and a prosecutor actually pressing charges. If they’re investigating, it only means they haven’t ruled out criminal activity, not necessarily that anyone thinks there actually was any.

Thomas Lenzmeier

Martha, just curious, what kind of tea-bagger are you?

a_tribe_called_chris

Martha speaks, she speaks, she speaks, she speaks

PaulJ

A fine example of being ‘trammeled’ (where the net is used to restrict freedom of action)

Logan’s Mom

Her home-brewed server perhaps not the wisest decision but it certainly wasn’t illegal. The State Department, the NSA, the CIA and top tech people in the Obama Administration certainly knew what she was doing and didn’t appear to care. Her response to the journalist asking her if she wiped her computer clean was insincere… “you mean did I wipe it with a cloth? She clearly knew what she was being asked”. Hillary needs to remind herself that she is no longer Secretary of State and that the protocol of running for President of the United States requires a great deal of transparency and direct accountability with the American People. It’s time for Hillary to reveal her passion for the position she is seeking. She needs to convince me that she really wants the position. In addition, I do wonder why so many news organizations are trying to make this nonissue into something it’s not. Why aren’t they more concerned about other potential presidential candidates disrespectful statements that certain innocent people is a “fat pig” or proclamations that we need to abolish/dissolve Planned Parenthood??? As Jon Stewart said… something really smells. My observation is that the strongest odors in floating around in the air are not connected to Hillary.

Martha

Setting up a personal server as Secretary of State is illegal, failing to safeguard work emails in her position IS illegal, shredding her work emails after a suppoena by Congress is illegal. I suggest everyone search these rules and the facts as she has over 7 criminal charges she could be handed.Her presidential run is over..once she is formally charged she is by law, removed from running for office. Its in the US code.

Yanotha Twangai

IF she is formally charged. We’ll see about that.

Pearly

“IF she is formally charged. We’ll see about that.”
.
Is that a direct quote attorney general Loretta Lynch?